Chapter 23: First Days of School

Disclaimer: Do you really need me to say this now? I'm afraid I don't own anything that belongs to either Bioshock or Harry Potter other than random bits of merchandise and the games.

For her first week back, she was helping the Ravenclaw students, in classes with them for each of her lessons, it was less favouritism and more familiarity, they were the house she interacted with most and they were the ones who her room was directly attached to.

At this moment in time, she was hating that option. The first period being History of Magic with Professor Binns, the ghost professor that essentially ignored everyone and everyone and droned on about Goblin Rebellions, sometimes, in fact most times repeating himself as the year progressed at least the lessons she had sat in had done that though she did wonder if he knew what was year he was teaching at any one time? Perhaps they kept his schedule the same so as to work with the routine he seemed determined to relive? Perhaps he did pay more attention and just didn't care as much now that he had moved on. Needless to say, though was the question as to how the students ever hoped to pass the exams, which was a question that was almost beyond her, outside of independent study that was, thankfully it also save a lot of time with the lack of homework that was set. There was the odd bit here and there but as a whole, he distributed the least out of all the professors.

'Homework... an interesting choice of words for the work considering they never do it at home.' She mused as she sat idly doodling in the book that was meant to be used for her own note taking, but history had little to keep her interested, even the most diehard student was struggling to keep awake as he continued to talk. Elizabeth had given up trying to keep them awake, mainly because she struggled to keep awake during them and had taken to doodling while listening as she glanced down at the images that she had drawn.

They were links to her past, the logo's and mascots related to the Vigour's and Plasmids that she had witnessed during her adventure, the face of the devil for Devil's Kiss, the figure riding the lightning bolt for Shock Jockey. simple designs, easy to draw, she could probably draw something more detailed, but she at least had to pretend she was watching over the students. Looking across the classroom at the group of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students, the class mix having been changed around again this year back to the more traditional combination of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff for the majority of classes, Harry was currently sat next to Susan Bones, his head in his hand, slowly slipping as he started to doze off, Susan having already dropped her head onto her folded arms on the desk, their quills discarded to the side as they gave up on any form of note taking to snooze through the class.

Elizabeth lifted her book and closed it, a bit louder than she should have causing several students to snap up and pretend to look busy as they shook off the sleep that had settled into their brains. She looked around, locking eyes with several of them that had fallen asleep with a pointed look and a little smirk before moving the next book that she had to keep her occupied in front of her in preparation for the next lesson, Potions. But her mind was not on it. It was still distracted by other things, from the glimpse she saw in the mirror, to Harry's scar fading and the creature that he had witnessed, another was the lingering question as to when Narcissa was going to contact her.

She wasn't even sure why this thought had crossed her mind when she woke up. Perhaps it was the Daily Prophet that had passed through this morning with an update on the bill and Lucius Malfoy's continued recruitment of those that he had previously shunned. Of course, there was a large air of distrust around this action, Malfoy having almost seemingly changed his views over night to the others, but Elizabeth was hesitant to just completely dismiss it. Time would reveal all she knew but there was still the question in the back of her mind about what Narcissa was up to. With no letters over the entirety of Summer it made Elizabeth question what she was planning, outside of the School it was easy to dismiss it from her thoughts, but now back here it was creeping to the front.

She turned another page as the bell rang to signal the end of the lesson, stopping in surprise she looked at the clock to see that time had gone a lot quicker than she thought as she closed her book, the students having already started moving to pack away their bits and pieces, or wake up as the case would be for a couple of them. She watched them leave before turning to Professor Binns who continued on as if nothing had changed. "Professor Binns?" Elizabeth spoke up, trying a hunch to see if she could gather any more information. The ghost didn't respond, continuing for another couple of sentences. "Professor Binns!" Elizabeth said, slightly louder, waving a hand in front of his face. The Ghost Professor stopped, blinking in surprise and looking at Elizabeth in confusion.

"Oh, is it the end of class?" Binns asked and Elizabeth nodded her head. "What can I do for you Miss..." He trailed off in confusion, the name not coming to his mind.

"DeWitt, I'm your assistant with the Second Years." Elizabeth explained and the Ghost looked almost offended at this.

"Assistant? I've been teaching for Fifty years and I've never needed an assistant." Binns said dismissively and Elizabeth looked at him blankly, "now who are you really? I'd remember being assigned an assistant and I know I haven't."

"I am Elizabeth DeWitt, I am a teaching assistant, not yours exclusively but one for the Second-Year students specifically, but that's neither here nor there for what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm doing an independent project, looking into myths and histories regarding famous people throughout history, mainly focusing on the Founders." She paused to see if Binns was still paying attention and seeing that he was she continued. "I'm looking into rumours about secret rooms that they built in Hogwarts and I was wondering whether or not you could add anything I could put into it?"

"In this class I deal with facts and not with fiction, although there are legends that the Founders built secret chambers but there has been no proof after all of these years of searching both by Professors and students."

"I understand, which is why I'm looking into either proving or disproving the rumours, I came across a reference to a Chamber of Secrets belonging to Slytherin, but the context is vague with the only other mention being that it opened fifty years ago."

"Fifty years ago? No that can't be right," Binns muttered in confusion, "Has it really been fifty years since that scare mongering?" Binns asked his hand reaching up and pushing his spectacles back up his face to look at Elizabeth with more focus.

"Fifty years since a student died here during the incident." Elizabeth confirmed, reinforcing it to try and bring familiarity and clarity to him. "What do you remember about that?"

"A student died, Miss... oh what was her name, Miriam? Mary? It escapes my mind for the moment, though I remember it begun with an M. Someone was expelled back then, Hager? It's interesting, the more I think about it the less I can properly remember." Binns said thoughtfully. "I can recall the Goblin Rebellion of 1752 with perfect clarity, yet this seems to elude me." He stopped again, his hand reaching up and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I remember earlier in the year a student asking information about the chamber, a Slytherin I think but not the actual conversation... has it really been fifty years?" He asked again and Elizabeth nodded her head. "No that can't be right... I need to go speak to the Headmaster; do you know where he is?" Bones questioned and Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders.

"Not at this precise moment, I'm assuming Dumbledore is in his office though." She said and again Binns looked a bit surprised before turning and floating through the wall. "I hope I haven't just caused a whole new set of problems." She picked up her bag, walking towards the door and then cursed. "Like being late and having to deal with Snape." She muttered as she closed the door behind her. Not a huge concern in the grand scheme of things but one that would no doubt cause a bit of a headache for the immediate future. She laughed quietly to herself as she walked down the stairs to the Dungeons, how her priorities had shifted so drastically over time, from fearing for her life, to not so much fearing or dreading but wanting to avoid a tiny insignificant argument. She quietly entered the classroom, stepping in through a small gap of the door and standing at the back of the room. It had been noticed though by pretty much everyone.

"Miss DeWitt, how nice of you to join us, I hope we haven't interrupted anything important on your first day back?" Snape taunted and Elizabeth held back the urge to roll her eyes.

"Not at all Professor, I had a few things I needed to speak to Professor Binns about, it held me up a bit longer than I anticipated." Elizabeth explained with a shrug, trying to move on to the actual reason she was here.

"Perhaps you'd care to share with the class as to why you were late?" He asked almost mockingly, and Elizabeth frowned.

"No, it doesn't concern them, nor is it related to the class at hand." Elizabeth sharply cut off, showing that she wasn't willing to discuss it further. Snape, who had locked eyes with her the moment they started talking simply smirked before turning back to the work that he had been doing at the desk.

"Then continue your task at hand." Snape responded and Elizabeth watched for a moment to see if he was going to be adding anything else to the conversation as she looked around at the students that were there, all of them looking between the two. "Don't the rest of you have potions to be working on?" Snape's voice cut through the classroom, startling them back into action. Walking towards where her desk at the side of the room was located to put her bag down she glanced at the blackboard to see that the potion on there was not the one that she had been told would be first due to the lesson plans that he had given her.

"A change in plans?" Elizabeth asked quietly after putting her bag down and walking over to Snape's desk.

"Last I checked I did not have to confirm every detail with you."

"Regardless, it would have been nice to be informed so I could prepare properly." Elizabeth responded just as quickly cutting Snape off in annoyance. With her job being to help them, if she wasn't prepared then she couldn't help them.

The rest of the lesson passed slowly and frustratingly quiet as the students continued through their potion with very little talking, Elizabeth walked between them a couple of times, stopping one incident from turning volatile as Ernie McMillan was about to add the wrong ingredient which would have most probably led to the cauldron exploding. But besides that, little to nothing happened. Soon enough the bell was ringing to signal the end of the lesson and Elizabeth watched as the students started to leave and soon, she was in the room alone with Snape, "I did not ask for an assistant nor do I particularly want one. But since I am stuck with you then you could at least have the decency to turn up on time." Snape reprimanded calmly as the last student left.

"My apologies again Professor Snape, Unfortunately I think I may have broken our History teacher." Elizabeth said thoughtfully, thinking back to the look of confusion on his face when she had spoken about the Chamber of Secrets.

"You broke our History teacher?" Snape asked with a raised eyebrow, "and how did you manage that? Or better yet, why did you do that?"

"I asked him about some legends regarding Hogwarts and events that happened in the past. He seemed quite surprised about how much time had passed. Last I saw him was heading off to the Headmasters Officers through a wall. He seemed quite disorientated by it all."

"And now I find myself questioning who will cause more damage to the School as the year progresses, you, Mr Potter and his machinations or Longbottom and his incessant Cauldron disasters." Snape taunted again drawing a slight blush of embarrassment from Elizabeth before she steeled herself. "Do not make it a habit to be late or do not turn up at all." Snape finished and dismissed Elizabeth with barely a look back. Elizabeth waited a second, deciding on whether or not to say anything before turning and leaving the classroom without another word.

Needless to say, today had proven to get off on a slightly wrong foot. Perhaps the Defence against the Dark Arts lesson would prove to be the turning point for the better? As she entered the Great Hall for lunch, she looked around up at the staff table, to see the seat next to Lockhart was available, internally she groaned, keeping her slight distaste for the man inside to not show the students before walking over to the Ravenclaw students.

"Joining us already Miss DeWitt?" Penelope asked as Elizabeth sat down next to the Ravenclaw Prefect. "To what do we owe the pleasure."

"A day going from bad to worse and so I seek a small break from the Professors to spend the time with my house so to speak." Elizabeth admitted, for it was her house even if she had never been a 'proper' student of the house, she had been sorted and so she felt that she needed to at least attempt the House Loyalty aspect, it was proving a lot of fun overall and to know that there were people who had her back was a nice change to things. She decided to shift the attention from herself to Penelope. "But that's my first day off to a bumpy start, what about yours?" Elizabeth asked and Penelope smiled slightly.

"Other than Professor Binns having vanished, it's been the normal first day of setting everything up for the year to come." Penelope explained as Elizabeth started to drink. Elizabeth coughed slightly, sputtering on her drink and quickly put the drink down. "And now I have a feeling that you have something to do with it." She said with a curious look, Elizabeth looked away, trying not to make eye contact.

"Well... I may have inadvertently done it." Elizabeth admitted after a moment of silence. "I interrupted him at the end of the lesson, asked a few questions, surprised him and he left to speak to the Headmaster." She explained.

"And I don't know whether to be amazed or horrified at what you've done... leaning more towards amazed." Penelope laughed as she raised her glass. "Although he's been around a long time and he knows what he talks about, there's a lot that is never covered. Perhaps he'll return or they may have to find someone new to cover it. Perhaps now that he's been snapped out of his focus, he may expand what he covers."

"But for now, that will have to go to one side, I really don't want a reputation of banisher of ghosts and professors." Elizabeth said with a laugh.

"Professors?" Penelope picked up on the slight slip and Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders.

"Well he is a ghost and a professor, so both were accurate I suppose, I just separated them." Elizabeth dismissed, not wanting it to link back to Quirrell, the last thing she needed was to be associated with the man who had been a servant of Voldemort.

They continued with little bits of small talk but soon enough the bell to signal the end of lunch rang and they stood, making their way to separate classrooms.

"Ah Miss DeWitt, you're early, that's good, that's good." Lockhart spoke as he walked around his desk towards her, greeting her cheerfully with a smile that almost managed to sparkle.

"I believe I left before you, do you know a passageway that I don't by any chance to get here?" Elizabeth questioned and Lockhart just continued smiling as he guided her into the classroom. Compared to when Quirrell had it, the room was a lot brighter, the curtains pulled back, the window open letting a breeze of fresh air in compared to the old one that had the strong odour of garlic and was constantly stuffy.

"There are still a few secret passages that I remember around this old castle." Lockhart said as he leant back against his desk. "The first years had my test this morning." He said shifting topics.

"And how did they do? I don't expect many of them to pick up on what you planned for the test to show."

"You are correct, they tried their best, a few tried to be funny with their answers and some did amuse me, the joys of youth and the jokes that they can come up with." Lockhart chuckled, "though I will admit some of the references the Muggleborns used was lost on me. My knowledge of that world is limited at best. It's the Ravenclaw Second Years now with the Hufflepuffs isn't it?" He questioned just to confirm.

"You'll find few smarter students around, though having helped them for a year I may be slightly biased." Elizabeth said with a smile as the first students started to walk in.

"Ah, speak of the devils and they shall appear," he said cheerfully, standing back up and clapping his hands together, "come in, come in, take a seat wherever you please, I won't be enforcing any seating plan unless you misbehave too much." He said jokingly as the students started taking seats, most mixing with the other house, having friends on each side of the house boundaries. "Welcome to your first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson with me, Gilderoy Lockhart." He stopped to pose for a moment with an overconfident smile on his face and Elizabeth rolled her eyes at the over acting. "Now, in this class, it is my job to prepare you for what is out there, the dark and dangerous creatures, the deadly spells and many other things that could cross your path. During this time, I'll be showing demonstrations of spells, teaching you to use some of them and as you're second years, bringing in some more of the common and less dangerous pests that you're likely to encounter."

There was a small murmur around the classroom as they heard this, with Quirrell there had been very little practical work but the bit they had done had been repetitive, always focused on the basic defensive jinxes with little mention of anything else, the promise of a varied year for the students was something they were looking forward to. "But first, I need to test to see if you've studied the material, I set you. My lovely assistant Miss DeWitt will be handing you each a quick and easy test to fill in, for the next half an hour I want you to fill it in and then we'll go over the answers together. That will cover the first half of this double lesson, the second half, well... I have a special surprise."

With a slight pointed look at Lockhart, Elizabeth took the tests and started walking along, handing out the papers to each of the students. "You may begin the moment you get your paper." He called as Elizabeth started handing out the papers, walking down between the rows of students.

Harry took one look at the paper and found himself with a similar look on his face that Elizabeth had when she had first seen the quiz. He looked up, giving her a confused look as she took her seat in the corner of the room and she just raised an eyebrow, the two almost silently communicating with no actual understanding. Still he lowered his head and got on with the quiz, having read the books he knew some of the answers, but he had skim read them, taking down notes that he felt were relevant.

Learning what Lockhart's ideal birthday present was far from what he felt was useful to anything related to Defence.

Time ticked away, the questions ranged from ordinary ones to more and more outlandish all must have been mentioned in the book but half of them Harry didn't remember at all. He checked the time as he came to the last ten questions to see that there was only five minutes left, he looked up, glancing at Lockhart to see him sat at the front desk, examining the back of his hand, studying his nails. The man screamed vanity. Elizabeth was looking over something, nibbling on the end of her quill in thought as she read over something, not related to the course if he had to hazard a guess. It didn't seem to be the smartest idea to have her on the exact same thing they were doing, or she wouldn't be able to properly assist.

"Times up." Lockhart called as he jumped back to his feet with a clap of his hands, a broad grin on his face. "Pass your tests forward, we'll mark them, and you'll get them back at the start of the next lesson." The tests were passed forwards, mutters between the students as they spoke about the questions. "Now, I know what you're thinking, Professor Lockhart, you are a dashing handsome man, what does your ideal birthday present have to do with Defence Against the Dark Arts?" He questioned, the stares that he was getting from the students were mixed in their emotion, the deadpan look from the Wizards at his self-praise and the Witches eating up every word. "Well, let's not lie, Harmony between all magic and non-magical people is a goal that is worth fighting for, the test was more an example of understanding and retaining information. The darkness is everywhere." He paused dramatically, looking over the students, "as you are my last class to take this test, I can now explain without spoiling the surprise, it is not just a case of learning a few spells and the ability to cast them that will defend you, it is also knowing what to look for, remembering key signs, key views. Following a trail of a dark beast, like my hunting of the Wagga Wagga werewolf in Australia that terrorized several villages, it is not just knowing how to fight but how to track, to spot the signs, over the course of the year, we will be looking at some of these and more, but it is definitely more that will be covered in future years."

The students were paying more attention now, most had dismissed Lockhart as being vain and self-loving, not many doubted what he had done, he had written it after all. But here, he seemed to be showing another part, a part of him that showed that he knew the dangers that he talked about, that he could deal with them. "Now we don't have much time, but I want to bring an example of what we're going to be looking at." He turned, quickly leaving the room the students starting to whisper amongst themselves wondering just what it could be.

Lockhart returned carrying something that looked like a bird cage covered by a blanket, there was silence coming from the cage and Harry wondered whether it was either still in there or whether the creature had escaped. "Now as long as this cover is on, they are perfectly fine, those of you looking to take care of magical creatures will find these particularly useful for a variety of animals, charmed to keep them calm while covered." He explained casually as he placed the cage on his desk.

Elizabeth looked between the students who were watching attentively and Lockhart who she had to admit did seem to know what he was talking about, there had been a lot of hesitance when she had first spoken to him but over time he was slowly proving that her fears were becoming unnecessary. She returned her attention to the tests that had been gathered and decided to start marking them and get ahead of things. Lockhart loved the sound of his own voice and as he didn't plan to do anything practical, she figured that she could cut out some of the task that would take up her free time.

"I assure you, the creatures I have beneath this cover. While not the most dangerous are devilishly tricky and a danger in their own right." Lockhart carefully warned, his voice dropping dramatically as he stepped over to the cage, the students enraptured by him. "I advise you to keep calm... because you might provoke them!" He called out loudly yanking off the cover. A golden cage was revealed and almost immediately started shaking as the light hit the small blue creatures that were locked away inside, buzzing around and hitting the bars trying to break free.

"What are they?" Harry asked, leaning over to Terry as he watched them try to break free.

"Cornish Pixies," Terry responded quickly with a slight snort of amusement. "I suppose he's right, they're not overly dangerous and they can be quite vicious with their pranks, but I thought it may have been something else."

"Correct you are Mr Boot." Lockhart said, pointing to the Ravenclaw student, "take Five points for Ravenclaw. Cornish Pixies, pranksters and tricksters, mischief is their bread and butter, their main identity, their signature." Lockhart grandstanded walking in front of the cage, "still, although they are a relatively easy creature to deal with when you know they're there, they can be devilishly tricky to find, they're fast, they are relatively smart and they have a magic all of their own." Lockhart continued to explain but Harry found his attention drawing away from Lockhart back towards the cage as one of the pixies at the front of the cage had stopped flying around and had started to fiddle with the lock of the cage door.

"Uh, sir?" Harry called, raising his hand to draw the Professors attention.

"One moment Mr Potter." Lockhart dismissed, pausing in his explanation for only a moment before returning to talk about a set of pranks a pack of pixies had pulled concerning garden rakes that he had helped clear up.

"But Sir!" Harry called again, slightly more forcefully as the lock popped open, several students started to realise that something was going on and shifted uneasily on their chairs, shifting them back in preparation to flee the moment chaos broke out.

"Mr Potter, I'm sorry but I have to do this, five points from Ravenclaw." Lockhart said with a disappointed tone to his voice. "I realise that someone of our status is used to being noticed immediately but you must learn to wait..." He begun to lecture Harry who frowned but was cut off as another voice snapped over the conversation.

"Petrificus Totalus." Elizabeth snapped off the spell as the pixies tried to leave the cage, although she had been marking tests, she had been part watching as the students reacted and saw the pixies that were now frozen stiff thanks to her spell. She turned her head to look at Lockhart as the Blonde turned around surprised at the cage door hanging open.

"Oh!" Lockhart cried out in surprise, turning back to the students. "Well, excellent work Miss DeWitt, if you were a student that would have been points for your house." He complimented with a slight nervous laugh. "Mr Potter, take those five points back and take an extra five for persistence in the face of adversity." Lockhart quickly reasoned in way of an apology to the Boy Who Lived. "I suppose this also brings us to the key part of this lesson, over confidence can be the end of even the most prepared of people," Lockhart recovered his cool as he locked the cage again, quickly throwing the cover back on it. "Pixies have a magic all of their own and can sometimes overload some of the more basic charms." he said softly as he turned around, if nothing else Lockhart was ever the performer and unfazed for long. "By our next lesson I want an essay from each of you, two feet of parchment covering the basics of Cornish Pixies." The bell rung, interrupting him, taking a moment to look over the class he smiled his trademark smile and called out "class dismissed." and the students were quick to leave. Soon after the only two that were left were Lockhart and Elizabeth. He turned to her, a beaming smile on his face. "Well that was almost a disaster, diverted quite nicely thanks to you." He said happily, taking the cage as the two walked back to his office. "I'll get the Elves to release them back into their habitat and that will be enough of them for the moment." Lockhart said placing it on the desk where it vanished moments later. "Well done Miss DeWitt, excellent work, your reactions were almost as fast as my own." Lockhart complimented her in such a way that made it clear that he was just trying to protect his own ego.

A raised eyebrow at the compliment, a momentary pause as she pushed a loose strand of hair out the way. "I have a few talents and tricks up my sleeve. "She replied dismissively, knowing full well there were multiple other options that she could take to have prevented the pixies escaping.

"A woman of mystery, how intriguing." Lockhart continued to smile, not skipping a beat as he sat down on the edge of his desk.

"Perhaps, but that's how it'll remain." Elizabeth dismissed with a wave of her hand. "But there is something I want you to listen to," a look of seriousness crossed her face. "Mr Potter does not care for his fame, he does not want it and he does not take advantage of it." She snapped, the smile that had been on Lockhart's face vanishing quickly under the lecture that he was receiving. "Your fame is something you earned, his was thrust upon him and a constant reminder of his parents murder."

"Yes, yes, you're right of course." Lockhart conceded quickly, holding his hands up to placate Elizabeth. "Forgive me, I sometimes find myself getting carried away," he admitted with a slightly sheepish look on his face. "It's not often that I interact with people who share a similar level of fame that I do and... well I suppose I failed to notice that he would not possibly take it the way I would." Lockhart admitted sheepishly and Elizabeth relaxed slightly, the frown turning to a more neutral expression. Perhaps he hadn't meant anything and just misread the scene, she'd have to watch to see how that plays out. "Now I do believe that it's time for food, would you care to join me for dinner in the Great Hall?" Lockhart asked politely and she nodded her head.

"Lead on professor." She responded equally politely and the two begun to make their way to dinner.

HPCVHPCVHPCV

He awoke, his body still aching, every move it protested against him. His eyes opened before closing sharply again, assaulted by the lights that shone above him. around him he could hear people talking, he could hear the sounds of machines beeping though he had no idea what it meant.

He was in a bed of some kind, unable to focus, he tried to call out for someone, but his voice cracked and didn't come out. He dropped back into the pillow, his eyes closing again.

In time, he'd get better.

Perhaps then he'd remember what was going on.

TBC

Well there we go another chapter done, a nice little change to the Lockhart scenario. I wanted him to be less of a caricature of the vain celebrity but still have that underlying. I also think that had someone been more inclined to put him in his place regarding how he acts to Harry he may have shifted his attitude slightly, instead of people going "Oh it's just Lockhart, that's okay." And instead going, "no, what are you thinking!?" Then perhaps he would have given Harry a bit more space.

But I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and hopefully the next one will be up in a similar amount of time but it all comes down to a mixture of the muses and other things.